#33: "for more information, please reread"
Welcome to issue #32 of THIS NEWSLETTER CANNOT SAVE YOU. Sorry I'm so late getting it out to you today. I was busy being fitted for my new "Disco Deejay" outfit. Next time you see me behind the decks, I might take your breath away, thanks to the power of fashion.
Highlights from Scottoworld
A reminder that we're having a wee little book launch event at Elliott Bay Book Company this Tuesday, Feb 7th, at 7pm sharp. I'll be reading from my new book WILD MASSIVE, answering questions, and signing copies of the book, which in a weird coincidence is being released that very same day!
Scottovision
Please to enjoy these audiovisual treats, plucked from my endless content queue like morning-fresh daisies.
"Books & Sleeves" (2020) & "Books & Sleeves II" (2022) - Animator Henning M. Lederer delivered these two pleasingly gentle animated sequences, contemplating a vintage graphic design aesthetic, and asking the question, "How would these great book graphics and record covers from the past look like when set in motion?" The answer: it's like watching simple but mesmerizing optical illusions come to life. Fun fact: Lederer directed two classic Max Cooper videos: "Numb" and "Anatomic."
"Yearbook" (2014) - Filmmaker Bernardo Britto won the Short Film Jury Award: Animation at Sundance for this bittersweet science fiction story of a man tasked with curating the high points of human history, in the face of certain extinction, for the sake of future generations that won't exist.
"MC HAMMER - U Can't Touch This (Circus AI video remix)" (2023) - Apparently this is what happens when you tell an AI to take MC Hammer's classic video but transform the whole cast into circus clowns. Or when an AI forcibly shoves Carly Rae Jepsen into Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer" video. Or when an AI wildly remixes Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" just for the hell of it, apparently. These clips are all pretty short, by the way. Presented by Roope Rainisto, whose IG tagline is, "Enslaving computers to create art."
"Mary-Kate & Ashley" (2021) - When he was an adolescent, Rob Tanchum got his picture taken with the Olsen twins on a cruise ship. Years later, he commemorated that moment with a rap song.
"Demons Come In All Shapes & Sizes" (2014) - The theme song from a popular daytime children's show in the early 1970s, which was released as a single along with this accompanying film. My advice is: don't let your kids watch TV at all when you visit the town of Scarfolk. ("For more information, please reread.")
"Jarressey" (2018) - From Blink Industries, the folks what brought you "Don't Hug Me I'm Scared," comes this delightful 7-minute sitcom episode in which a man (it's Jarressey!) can't eat dinner because his food levitates away from him. But there's a happy ending, because the food dances, too! The beyond-deadpan comedy is sharper than vast swaths of actual television so it's a shame this isn't a real show.
"When Mortals Sleep" (2023) - In this weirdly surprising film, a novelist retreats to a friend's empty home to recharge, only to discover the home isn't so empty after all. The story is cosmic horror with a nice jolting twist. Written & directed by Alex Fofonoff, the film was an official selection at Sundance 2022.
"Postman Pat and the Pills" (2023) - A demented parody of a beloved UK kids' show. When Postman Pat fails to deliver someone's radiation sickness pills, he is inconsolable! The comments on this vid suggest that despite the foregrounded parody narrative, many English towns are actually like this. Brought to you by Xploshi.
"Falling Down" (2020) - A meditation on what the world would/will look like when civilization is finally over, and cities are ghosts, and printed photographs are all that remains of people and their concerns. Directed by Swann and Yoann Chesnel, with a score by Superpoze.
"Dreaming Synthetic" (2018) - Creator Warren Lamb describes this animated film as "a psychedelic exploration of a dreamer’s sleeping mind." If I could get that high in my dreams, I would definitely sleep a little more (wakka wakka). I wonder if the dreaming pretext was added simply to get the project across the finish line without unnecessary scrutiny (it was originally a senior project at university). Regardless it's got an authentic intrepid quality that is worth dedicated attention.
"Ladies Chicken Calling Contest (remix)" (2019) - I was unfamiliar with ladies chicken calling until this video. Now, I am familiar. Of course, this video remix adds a nice "you're also on seven hits of acid" vibe to the experience. From the folks at Content Aware Scale.
Exit Music
Sending you out this week with a classic downtempo anthem, if you can imagine that. The track is "Les Fleur" by 4hero, released in 2001, and its charming animated video (in which a mysterious woman hands out supernatural roses to everyone in sight) just got an HD release thanks to CHYPSY's Videoclip Archive.
A YouTube playlist with this issue's recs can be found here.
Until next time, I remain your friendly correspondent, thinking of you,
Scotto